Comments on: Throwing Down the Baton

By: J

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:12:41 +0000

I think it’s damn right. Why should a pianist who has probably slaved for months on a Rachmaninov concerto, or a mezzo pouring their heart and soul into Dido’s Lament, have their hard work spoiled by a man who can’t stop blustering and sputtering all the time. Perhaps audiences need to realise that the money they pay for a professional concert ticket is nothing compared to the emotion they will recieve from a performer, and that they ought to respect that. I make all efforts to stay as silent as a mouse, so why should MY evening be disrupted too?

By: Leaidan

Leaidan — Sun, 29 May 2011 11:56:01 +0000

I feel so much happier now I understand all this. Thanks!

By: Chris Shelby

Chris Shelby — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:44:56 +0000

I think many responders here have valid points but still misunderstand the author’s argument.
Right, a “sterile” concert environment is anathema to music performance, but Mr. Lawlor doesn’t call for sterility, just respect.
I agree that genuine emotional responses to the music can enhance the experience for everyone and create a mutually supportive relationship between audience and performers. But coughing and sneezing are not emotional responses. They may be involuntary, but if chronic, you should at least step out until you feel better.
Cell phone chatter is indefensible. It shows you don’t care about what’s right in front of you. If not, then leave, instead of forcing your irrelevant conversation on those who still care about the music.
Certainly performers and listeners should have different expectations in a multi-use venue, like a cafe or town square, but people gather in a concert hall for one purpose. If you care about the music and musicians on the stage, stay and respond genuinely and supportively. If not, please see yourself out.
Yes, a concert should be a collective, interactive musical experience. That’s why the audience should be as committed to the quality of that experience as the performers.

By: Aelfweard

Aelfweard — Sat, 22 May 2010 00:57:35 +0000

Glenn Gould was mad as a box of frogs and suffered from numerous psychological problems including paranoia, which explain his feeling that the audience was out to get him.

Music is not just some theoretical exercise, it is a form of communication and as such works best live.

It is true that occasionally audiences misbehave but in my experience as someone who has attended classical concerts for more than 30 years, it is rare. The coughing can be annoying but it isn’t caused by rudeness but by the precious attitude of some performers.

If you say to someone, “Don’t think about pink elephants” they will. If you (implicitly) say “Don’t cough!” it will make people think about it and cough involuntarily – very few people who cough in concerts do not feel self-conscious about it and wish they could stop.

As for mobile phones, well that’s a different matter…

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:12:35 +0000

Mostly i disagree with this “precious” model of music performance.
I am a connoisseur and participant in Indian classical music which demands audience participation in the form of spoken encouragement when the artist does something worthy of comment – perhaps this is a function of the nature of the music – mostly improvised – just as we see the same kind of audience feedback in live Jazz. It seems to me that if you want total silence while performing, make a recording – we are human and as such are social, emotional, connected beings – we need interaction.
That said, it is rude and thoughtless to make noise that is unconnected to the performance, chatting, texting, eating, etc

By: Rob Davidson

Rob Davidson — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:06:07 +0000

The attitude of requiring audiences to be silent is comparatively recent and to my mind way too clinical and dull. It’s refreshing to be in a classical concert in India where the audience is as involved as a good jazz audience, making lots of little sighs and gasps of appreciation, just as it was for most of “classical music”’s history in the West.

Thank god I play in an amplified band where audience participation is not a problem – in fact, the lack of it is a problem. No wonder I rarely sit through church-like classical concerts these days.

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:45:29 +0000

This article is a perfect example of the ivory tower that artists live in. WE pay to see you. Our tax dollars allow you the liberty of devoting your life to art (as opposed to getting a real job).

Silly artsies.

By: Bee

Bee — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:39:55 +0000

I’m very puzzled by this article. As a visual artist, I was taught that everything that the viewer sees is part of the visual experience, not just what is within the confines of the canvas (or sculpture, installation, etc.), which is why gallery and museum exhibitions are set up in particular ways, paying attention to the dynamics of the room, the lighting, etc. The idea is not to create a completely sterile environment, but an active one that, while it is visually quiet, is not mute. Other visitors are part of how one experiences the art.

With music performances, that is all the more true. Popular music thrives on audience participation, and in fact requires it to become fully present. The emotional response of the audience is an essential part of the show. Attending a rock concert where everyone is quiet would be downright bizarre.

Classical music evokes highly emotional responses as well, and while it may not be appropriate to whoop and holler, because of the intense and focused nature of that style of music, I want to see other audience members be moved, and be human. Coughing and shifting in one’s seat is natural, and I welcome it. It’s an integral part of appreciating the music collectively.

By: Judith Shatin

Judith Shatin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 14:15:39 +0000

I am saddened to see this article. What about the thrill of live performance, the vulnerability, the not-knowing-in-advance, the social experience, the sensuous sensations. Of course it’s great to have recordings that enable us to hear music again and again, or to hear music we otherwise have no access to. But to deny the power of live performance because people make noise is to deny the very on-the-edge experience of in-the-moment music-making.

Classical music, like other music, can provide deep and rich experiences. Yes, it would be great if all halls had comfortable chairs. But they don’t – and true of other musics as well. It doesn’t matter when you’re sitting on the edge taking in the music and theatre of live performance.

By: WWarren

WWarren — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:40:59 +0000

Music should be the absence of pleasure. Music should be lifeless.

If the goal of music is to give someone an experience, it should be noted that this experience is achieved emotionally; listening to music is not the great exercise in intellectual activity that studying compositions may be.

The point? Music changes you on a biological level when its worth its weight. Your pulse, the rhythm of your breath, they change! Are we to sit still through these changes, and become completely out of touch with the experience our minds and bodies are having? You may be attentive and you may enjoy yourself, but the essence of the music, the very purpose of the music–its spirit, is lost when its heard from a position of paralysis in an uncomfortable chair.

Classical music is suicidal.